Abstract
How does a diasporic religion extend beyond the ethnic enclave marked by the pluralism in the host society? Drawing from my fieldwork in Malacca, Malaysia, this chapter shows how Tzu Chi, a Buddhist charitable group from Taiwan, developed locally by simultaneously tapping into and reaching beyond the Chinese diaspora. The importance of proselytizing and volunteering for the relief work, I will argue that Tzu Chi, in the specific setting of religious pluralism in Malaysia, presents an anomaly between diasporic and ecumenical religion. Proselytizing makes local development gravitate towards the diasporic framework. The secular operation of relief work allows Tzu Chi to draw in non-Buddhist participants. The limits of religious pluralism nevertheless keep Tzu Chi’s proselytizing and its ecumenical tendencies at bay. In conclusion, I will argue that the shift of a religious movement from diasporic to ecumenical is highly contingent on local social networks and legal frameworks.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the Tzu Chi website, “The aim of this project is to enable the relationship of the volunteers be closer, expedite news circulation, promote cooperation at work, form a network for ‘relieving the suffering at call.’” See, Tzu Chi Foundation (2009c).
- 2.
According to my fieldwork in Malacca, other Buddhist organizations may also emphasize action, for example, Seck Kia Een in Malacca, although the “action” there may range from concrete welfare building such as running an orphanage to symbolic blessings such as dharma ceremonies. Catholic churches, for example, St Teresa Church in Malacca, which have regular subsets for charity, e.g., St. Vincent, de Paul, do not seem to solely focus on deeds.
- 3.
In 2004, 1 USD = 3.8034 MYR. http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/
- 4.
There are several titled groups in Tzu Chi. For a detailed list and explanation of each title, see Huang, Charisma and Compassion, 64–80.
- 5.
Huang, Charisma and Compassion, 70.
- 6.
Ibid., 70.
- 7.
Ibid., 72.
- 8.
Malaysian Chinese society, especially the Chinese-speaking majority (as opposed to the English-speaking one, which constitutes 10 % of the 6.5 million Chinese Malaysians), continues to operate through “three pillars”—Chinese schools (1,291 public schools and 60 independent schools); Chinese organizations, or hua zong (both religious and secular, and including some 7,000 registered clan, guild, and business groups); and Chinese media (six newspapers on the peninsula and eight in East Malaysia). Jocelyn Tan, “One Race, Two Sets of Views.” Star (September 23, 2007): F26.
- 9.
“2009 nian quanqiu Ciji fenbu guojia diqu ji fenzhihui lianluochu fenbutu [global distribution of Tzu Chi in countries and map of branch offices, year 2009]”Tzu Chi Almanac 2009 (2010): 456.
- 10.
Ibid., 459.
- 11.
They are similar to Borders or Barnes & Noble cafés with free wireless Internet, although with a quainter ambiance and an unabashedly exclusive collection of Tzu Chi literature and souvenirs. As of January 2008, there are a total of 11 Jing-Si Books and Cafés in Malaysia. Their locations are as follows: Malacca, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang, Klang, Penang, Butterworth, Jitra, Ipoh, Kelantan, Selangor, and Johor Bahru. The World of Tzu Chi 1 (January 2008): 80.
- 12.
Tzu Chi & UNHCR: Collaboration & Activities, Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur Branch), not dated.
- 13.
The environmental mission has been so successful and timely that it has received awards from the Malaysian government, including an award presentation from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Malaysia Environmental Protection Day in 2003. The charity mission of the Malacca branch was praised many times by Chief Minister Datuk Wira Mohd Ahmad Ali Rstam of the State of Melaka. The Malacca branch clinic has provided free surgery to low-income patients transferred from the Central Hospital. In 2002 and 2003, Tzu Chi Malacca received RM 10,000 medical funds each year from the state government. Tzu Chi Malaysia Annals 2003.
- 14.
Among the 14 local adherents this paper refers to (not including the Lius) were 10 females and 4 males. Seven were born between 1931 and 1956, four between 1960 and 1965, and three between 1972 and 1977. Seven first came to Tzu Chi before or during 1997 (the year when the local branch building was erected) and the rest after 1997. Age groups are distributed equally between the two periods. Except for 1 Caucasian from Australia, the 13 Chinese-ethnic interviewees included only 1 Taiwanese, and the other 12 were born locally with no relations in Taiwan. Four were from relatively lower-income backgrounds, the Australian was unemployed, and the other three had retired from jobs as a nurse, a tailor, and a barber. Seven were from middle-class backgrounds or had spouses who were small shopkeepers or professionals (accountant, secretary, educator, preschool principal), and three either were upper-middle class or had spouses who were (physician and entrepreneur). The Taiwanese was a first-generation immigrant, and the 12 born locally were at least second- and mostly third-generation migrants from mainland China. Except for one Straits-born Chinese who didn’t know her ancestors’ hometown, the ancestral origin or dialect group of the other 11 locally born interviewees were: five Hokkien, five Cantonese (four Teochew and one Hakka), and one Hainanese. Three out of five Cantonese descendents were from outside Malacca. The sample, therefore, reflects the local Chinese population quite well, as it is predominantly Hokkien and primarily composed of descendents of nineteenth-century immigrants. All of the 13 Chinese-ethnic interviewees worked for Tzu Chi more than 1 day a week, and the Australian had worked for 4 months. In fact, as they listed their activities, it was revealed that all of them worked for Tzu Chi every day, either coming to volunteer at the branch or participating in activities such as sorting garbage for recycling, visiting charity recipients and nursing homes, or going out individually to collect membership dues. Three of the interviewees were full-time staff members who also spent their free time as volunteers.
- 15.
In 2003, there were 65 Chinese schools fully aided by government in Malacca. The total number of students was 21,082, and there were 1,090 teachers. There was only one independent secondary Chinese school in Malacca, Pay Fong Secondary School, which mainly relies on donations from the Chinese community. There were five more conventional schools in Malacca and one Chinese evening school (Choy 2003).
- 16.
Compare with Embong (2001).
- 17.
Personal communication, February 17, 2011. Also see “Public Prosecutor v. Ong Kian Cheong and Another [2009] SGDC 163” (District Court, Singapore). “The accused were convicted under section 4(1) read with section 3(1)(e) of the Sedition Act (SA) read with section 34 of the Penal Code for randomly distributing religious tracts which were considered seditious and objectionable to Muslims and being in possession of such publications.” Tan and Thio (2010, p. 1028).
- 18.
Tan and Thio, Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore, 1203.
- 19.
“Laws of Malaysia: Act 15—Sedition Act 1948, Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006.” Published by The Commissioner of Law Revision, Malaysia, under the Authority of the Revision of Laws Act 1968, in collaboration with Malayan Law Journal SDN Bhd and Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd, (2006), 5.
- 20.
In July 2010, nine people were arrested by police at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), allegedly on a covert conversion mission for Christianity. It is unclear what happened to these nine people. “Nine Students Arrested at UPM,” The Malaysian Insider, July 15, 2009. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/Nine-students-arrested-at-UPM/. I thank Lim Sok Swan for helping me in collecting the news clippings. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/07/15/malaysia-free-9-christians-conversion-mixup.html.
- 21.
Tan and Thio, Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore, 1199.
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Acknowledgments
I thank Michael Feener and Juliana Finucane, the workshop organizers and the volume editors, for inviting me to the workshop and for their careful readings and insightful suggestions for revising this chapter. I thank the discussant, Julius Bautista, for his comments and all the participants for their helpful responses. I am grateful to Juliette Duara for pointing me to the source of Malaysia laws, and to Kevin Tan for generously sharing his insights into Malaysia laws. I thank Yumi Selden for her editing. Part of the research for this chapter was funded by a grant from Taiwan’s National Science Council (NSC No. 99-2410-H-007-008-MY2). The writing and revision of the chapter was made possible by the visiting senior research fellowship at Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
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Huang, C.J. (2014). From Diasporic to Ecumenical: The Buddhist Tzu Chi (Ciji) Movement in Malaysia. In: Finucane, J., Feener, R. (eds) Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia. ARI - Springer Asia Series, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-18-5_10
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